When Cultural Scripts Collide: Conflicting Child-rearing Values in a Mixed-culture Home

John C. Wakefield

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)
    18 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This paper discusses some key differences between the child-rearing values of American-English culture and Hong Kong-Cantonese culture. Evidence is drawn from contrasts in the child-rearing-related speech behaviour of people from the two cultures, including the American English-speaking author and his Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking partner. Speaker-oriented cultural scripts written in the natural semantic metalanguage are developed in an attempt to articulate and explain these differences in verbal behaviour. It is proposed that a major contrast between the two cultures is whether or not parents believe children can or should determine for themselves what is appropriate to say and do.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)376-392
    Number of pages17
    JournalJournal of Intercultural Communication Research
    Volume42
    Issue number4
    Early online date8 Nov 2013
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2013

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • Cultural Studies
    • Communication

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Child-rearing
    • Hong Kong Cantonese
    • American English
    • Cultural Scripts
    • Natural Semantic Metalanguage

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